N.Y. Laws » CHAPTER Social Services / ARTICLE Assistance and Care / TITLE Home Relief
New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Social Services Law § 157 (2026)

Definitions

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section NY-LEGnysenate.gov Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar 
§ 157. Definitions.  As used in this title.  1. Safety net assistance
means allowances pursuant to section one hundred thirty-one-a of this
article for all support, maintenance and need, and costs of suitable
training in a trade to enable a person to become self-supporting,
furnished eligible needy persons in accordance with applicable
provisions of law, by a municipal corporation, or a town where safety
net assistance is a town charge, to persons or their dependents in their
abode or habitation whenever possible and includes such relief granted
to veterans under existing laws but does not include hospital or
institutional care, except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, or
family assistance or medical assistance for needy persons granted under
titles ten and eleven of this article, respectively, or aid to persons
receiving federal supplemental security income payments and/or
additional state payments. Safety net assistance may also be provided in
a family home or boarding home, operated in compliance with the
regulations of the department, and on and after January first, nineteen
hundred seventy-four, in facilities in which a person is receiving
family care or residential care, as those terms are used in title six of
this article, and to persons receiving care in a facility supervised by
the office of alcoholism and substance abuse services or in a
residential facility for the mentally disabled approved, licensed or
operated by the office of mental health or the office for people with
developmental disabilities, other than those facilities defined in
sections 7.17 and 13.17 of the mental hygiene law, in a developmental
center facility operated by the office for people with developmental
disabilities or residential care centers for adults operated by the
office of mental health, when such type of care is deemed necessary.
Payments to such homes and facilities for care and maintenance provided
by them shall be at rates established pursuant to law and regulations of
the department. The department, however, shall not establish rates of
payment to such homes or facilities without approval of the director of
the budget.
  2. State aid means payments to a municipal corporation by the state
for home relief furnished in accordance with this title.
  3. Municipal corporation shall mean a county or city except a county
wholly within a city.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 20 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1986–2026 · leading case: Jiggetts v. Grinker, 148 A.D.2d 1 (N.Y. App. Div. 1989).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Jiggetts v. Grinker, 148 A.D.2d 1 (N.Y. App. Div. 1989). · cites it 2× “) Indigent children residing with two parents receive aid through the New York City and State funded Home Relief program (Social Services Law § 157 et seq.) which program was providing aid to 33,000 of New York City’s children in February 1988 (NY City Human Resources Admin, Off…”
McCain v. Koch, 117 A.D.2d 198 (N.Y. App. Div. 1986). “(Social Services Law §§ 157, 300.) The State DSS monitors the local services departments, and when it discovers a failure to adhere to binding policies, directives, State regulations, or Federal regulations in the AFDC and EAF programs, it may withhold or deny State…”
City of New York v. Lawton, 128 A.D.2d 202 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987). “The City DSS also administers and enforces within petitioner the State-enacted Home Relief (HR) program (Social Services Law § 157 et seq.). Petitioner is reimbursed for portions of the administrative costs of these programs by the State for HR and by both the State and Federal…”
Rodriguez v. Wing, 723 N.E.2d 77 (NY 1999). “Alternatively, petitioner argues that what he received could not be safety net assistance because Social Services Law § 157 (1) denies eligibility for safety net assistance to recipients of Federal SSI benefits.”
Kreslein v. Perales, 204 A.D.2d 942 (N.Y. App. Div. 1994). “In October 1980 petitioner, a recipient of benefits under the State Home Relief Program (see, Social Services Law § 157), applied to the Social Security Administration for Supplemental Security Income (hereinafter SSI) benefits.”
Empire State Ass'n of Adult Homes, Inc. v. Perales, 139 A.D.2d 41 (N.Y. App. Div. 1988). “Social Services Law § 131-o establishes personal allowance accounts (currently $66 monthly) for adult care facility residents who receive public assistance (see, Social Services Law § 157 [1]; §§ 208, 209).”
People v. Triuck, 175 Misc. 2d 460 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1998). “(See, 7 USC § 2025 ; Social Services Law § 157 et seq.) In order to secure these funds, State DSS must submit “State plans” to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, in regard to public assistance and Medicaid, and a plan of operation to the United States…”
Brownley v. Doar, 903 N.E.2d 1155 (NY 2009). “In furtherance of the State’s policy aim of continuing support to families and individuals after expiration of the federal 60-month benefit period, the New York Legislature enacted a separate and distinct, state-funded Safety Net Assistance program (see Social Services Law § 157…”
The Matter of Crystal Hawkins v. Elizabeth Berlin, 44 N.E.3d 907 (NY 2015). “As of 2001, petitioner received public assistance benefits under the State’s Safety Net Assistance Program (see Social Services Law § 157 et seq.). . The record indicates that petitioner received approximately $10,000 in child support payments directly from Michael’s father…”
Baez v. Bane, 220 A.D.2d 166 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995). “New York’s interim assistance program, entitled "Interim Home Relief’ (IHR) is codified as Social Services Law § 157 et seq. . A related controversy recently resolved by the Court of Appeals in favor of the SSI recipient was whether 18 NYCRR former 370.”
Melendez v. Wing, 21 A.D.3d 129 (N.Y. App. Div. 2005). “By definition, safety net assistance encompasses allowances for all support, maintenance and need as delineated in section 131-a, including shelter costs (see Social Services Law § 157 [1]). The emergency shelter allowance is therefore not a separate entitlement outside the…”
Thrower v. Perales, 138 Misc. 2d 172 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1987). · cites it 2× “Home Relief is defined as an allowance "for all support, maintenance and need, and costs of suitable training in a trade to enable a person to become self-supporting” (Social Services Law § 157). It is guaranteed to people who are unable to provide for themselves and do not have…”
Show all 20 citing cases →
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.